If it had been a man - prison time for sure...

Why didn't this make national news?

A Hamilton judge handed a woman with psychological problems a suspended sentence and three years' probation yesterday after she admitted to setting fires at her Sanford Avenue home on three occasions. Two of the fires were started on the front porch of her rental property while the woman's mother, husband and two children, 9 and 6 years old, were inside.

The woman came to the attention of Hamilton police in September 2005 when she received a series of anonymous letters threatening harm to her and the children.

Police put a plan in place to safeguard the family. In mid-October, however, officers conducting surveillance caught the woman on videotape setting fire to her own home. Investigators ultimately concluded that she had been responsible for the other arsons and was also the author of the letters. The Children's Aid Society was notified and the children were placed in care for a time, but have since been returned to the mother. The woman pleaded guilty on an earlier date to public mischief and mischief endangering life.